LiveAgent vs. ManyChat vs. Helply: Pricing and Features Compared 

Choose LiveAgent if you have a tight budget and need a combined phone and email system, but be prepared for a clunky, outdated interface.

Choose ManyChat if your only goal is to sell products on Instagram using fun quizzes, but know that it is not built for support and gets incredibly expensive as your contact list grows.

However, Helply is the best AI agent for customer support because it is built for the job. Unlike LiveAgent, it is modern and easy to use. Unlike ManyChat, it offers predictable pricing.

Helply connects directly to your professional helpdesk (like Zendesk or Freshdesk) to automate tickets and save your team hours of work every day.

This article will help you find live chat software and chatbot platform options, and compare the best ManyChat alternatives for your business.

LiveAgent

LiveAgent is a classic, all-in-one helpdesk and live chat solution designed to improve service quality for customer support teams. It is affordable and packs a ton of features, like email ticketing, live chat, and even a call center, into one dashboard.

However, it is also known for feeling “dated.” While LiveAgent's live agent support is particularly useful for handling complex customer inquiries, the interface is clunky. Also, the mobile app is often reported as buggy, and its AI features are basic compared to modern tools. It tries to do everything, which means it doesn’t do any one thing perfectly.

Features

• Universal Inbox. It pulls emails, live chats, phone calls, and social media messages (Facebook, Twitter/X, Instagram) into a single dashboard. The chat window and chat widget are integrated for seamless customer interaction, making it easy to manage and track conversations across channels. While powerful, users often find the interface cluttered compared to modern tools.
• Built-in Call Center. One of its unique selling points is a fully functional VoIP phone system with IVR (interactive voice response) trees and call recording, allowing you to handle phone support without buying separate software.
• Hybrid Ticketing System. It converts every interaction, whether a chat, email, or tweet, into a “ticket.” It includes standard helpdesk features like agent collision detection (seeing who is viewing a ticket), SLAs (deadlines), and tags.
• Basic AI Assistant. LiveAgent includes basic AI features, such as an “Answer Assistant” to rephrase agent replies and a simple chatbot for gathering customer info, but it lacks self-learning capabilities or autonomous problem-solving. Its live chat capabilities support real-time customer conversations, helping agents respond quickly and efficiently.
• Customer Portal. It allows you to build a simple knowledge base and customer forum where users can find answers themselves, though the design options are somewhat limited.

Pricing Plans

Note: Prices verified as of November 2025.

Note: All plans have a 75% Black Friday discount for the first 6 months (as of November 2025). Free trials are available.

Pros

• Very Affordable. If you have a small budget and need a phone system + email support, it is a cheap option.
• Does Everything. You don’t need separate tools for chat and email.
• Solid Reporting. It tracks how fast your agents are working.
• Advanced Features for Power Users. Higher-tier plans unlock advanced features for users who need more capabilities.

Cons

• Outdated Interface. Users often complain that it looks and feels like software from 10 years ago. It is not “fun” or easy to use.
• Steeper Learning Curve. LiveAgent has a steeper learning curve compared to more modern tools, which can be challenging for new users to get started and become proficient.
• Buggy Mobile App. If your team works on the go, the mobile app is known to have issues with notifications and crashing.
• Not a Smart AI. Its AI features are helpful helpers for humans, but it is not a self-learning agent that can fully automate your support on its own.
• Jack of All Trades. By trying to be a phone system and a chat system and a helpdesk, it lacks the polish of specialized tools.

Who it's for

• Small teams with a tight budget who need a phone number and email support in one place.
• Companies that don't mind a clunky interface if it saves them money.

Who it's not for

• Modern Support Teams. If you want a sleek, fast experience (like Intercom or Zendesk), LiveAgent will feel frustrating.
• Teams needing Automation. If you want to deflect 50%+ of your tickets with AI, LiveAgent's basic tools won't cut it.

ManyChat

ManyChat is a marketing automation platform. ManyChat is known for its marketing automation tools, including lead qualification and integration with email marketing tools.

ManyChat is famous for its “Chat Marketing” flows on Instagram and Facebook. It is widely used for automating customer interactions on Facebook Messenger.

The tool offers a no code builder and integrates with numerous third party applications to expand its functionality. It is incredible for sales and lead generation, but it is terrible for handling support tickets.

Features

• Visual Flow Builder. A drag-and-drop interface lets you build complex “If/Then” scenarios. For example: “If user clicks ‘Buy’, send Link A. If user clicks ‘Support’, send Link B.” It is great for sales funnels but rigid for open-ended support questions, and lacks advanced AI agents or advanced AI features for handling complex queries or providing deeper customization.
• Instagram & Facebook Automation. It dominates social media marketing. You can automate replies to post comments, story mentions, and DMs instantly, but ManyChat’s automation is not truly ai powered automation and relies mostly on rule-based triggers.
• Growth Tools. Features like “Comment to DM” (auto-sending a message when someone comments on a post) and JSON ads help marketers grow their subscriber lists rapidly, while also collecting and managing customer data for marketing purposes.
• Broadcasts. You can send mass messages to your entire subscriber list at once, similar to an email newsletter but via chat.
• Keyword Triggers. The bot reacts primarily to specific keywords (e.g., “Price,” “Shipping”). If a customer asks a complex question that doesn’t match a keyword, the bot often fails.

Pricing Plans

ManyChat's pricing is based on Contacts. The more people you talk to, the more you pay.

Note: Prices verified as of November 2025.

The "Pro" price scales quickly. If you have a viral post and get 20,000 contacts, your bill can jump to over $100/month.

Pros

• Amazing for Sales. It is the best tool for turning Instagram comments into sales.
• Great Flow Builder. It is fun and easy to design marketing quizzes and funnels.
• Viral Growth. It helps you get more engagement on social media.

Cons

• Expensive for Support. If you use this for support, you will pay for every customer who asks a question. That is a "success tax" on your support team.
• No Ticketing System. It has no way to assign tickets, set priorities, or track "Open/Closed" status effectively. Messages just pile up.
• Meta Dependent. If Instagram changes its rules or goes down, your entire system breaks.
• Not Intelligent. It relies mostly on keywords. If a customer phrases a question differently than you expected, the bot breaks.

Who it's for

• Influencers & Marketers. People selling courses or products on Instagram.
• Sales Teams. If your goal is only to generate leads, ManyChat is great.

Who it's not for

• Support Teams. Do not use ManyChat for customer service. It will become a messy, expensive nightmare.
• Omnichannel Brands. It doesn't work well on your website or email.

Helply

Helply is the professional choice for customer support automation. Unlike LiveAgent, it isn’t clunky. Unlike ManyChat, it isn’t just for marketing.

Helply is a smart AI agent that lives on top of your existing helpdesk (like Zendesk, Freshdesk, or Groove). It reads your past tickets, learns your business, and solves customer problems automatically—24/7.

By understanding customer behavior from previous customer conversations and inquiries, Helply delivers personalized service and proactive support, anticipating needs and tailoring interactions to enhance customer satisfaction and support efficiency.

Key Features

• Self-Learning AI Agent. Helply uses advanced AI to understand the intent behind a question. It learns from your historical tickets and documentation, getting smarter with every interaction. Helply also leverages customer data to personalize responses and improve the accuracy of answers for each user.
• Seamless Helpdesk Integration. Helply connects directly to Zendesk, Freshdesk, Groove, and Help Scout. It acts as a comprehensive chatbot platform for automating customer inquiries and managing customer conversations across channels. Helply works like a “super-agent,” resolving tickets in the background and only passing complex ones to humans.
• Knowledge Bridge. This unique feature proactively identifies “knowledge gaps”—questions customers ask that you haven’t documented yet. It then drafts new help articles for you, ensuring your knowledge base is always up to date.
• Action-Taking Capabilities. Helply can connect to systems like Shopify, Stripe, or your custom API to perform real tasks, such as checking order status, issuing refunds, or updating account details.
• Global Multilingual Support. It instantly speaks 40+ languages, allowing you to support customers worldwide without hiring local teams.
• Customizable Persona. You can adjust the AI’s tone and style to match your brand voice, ensuring it sounds like a member of your team, not a robot.

Pricing Plans

Helply offers predictable pricing. You pay for the value (AI answers), not for how many contacts you have or how many agents use it.

Pros

• No "Contact" Limits. You don't get punished for having a lot of customers.
• Modern & Fast. Helply is cutting-edge technology that is easy to set up.
• Automates the Work. It solves repetitive tickets so your human agents don't have to.
• Keeps You Organized. Because it works with your helpdesk, all your tickets are tracked, tagged, and assigned perfectly.

Cons

• Needs a Helpdesk. Helply is a pro tool. It is designed to plug into a system like Zendesk or Freshdesk. It is not a standalone inbox (but that is why it is so powerful).

Who it's for

• Support Teams. If you want to lower response times and save money.
• Growing E-commerce. Brands that need to answer "Where is my order?" instantly.
• Global Companies. Businesses that need to support customers in many languages.

The Verdict

Here is the simple breakdown:

Pick LiveAgent if you have a tiny budget and absolutely need a phone system and email inbox in one place.

Pick ManyChat if you are an influencer or marketer trying to sell products on Instagram.

Pick Helply if you are a growing business that wants to automate customer support. It is the only tool that offers enterprise-grade AI, supports 40+ languages, and works seamlessly with the professional helpdesk tools you already use.

Stop drowning in tickets. Let Helply handle the busy work.

Book your FREE Helply demo today!